If you could meet you, but 10 years younger, what advice would you give yourself?
Put God first, family second, friends next and others after. Savour the moment. Live for today. Deal with stress before it consumes you. Enjoy the physical freedom you have. Believe you are loved, beautiful, special.

It’s been a rough day – do you need company, or time alone?
A bit of both. TLC from my Other Half is always welcome. Time to rest, heal, restore and renew is best done alone. Peace, Quiet and Dark are often an M.E sufferer’s best friends.

A book that changed you?
Tough one. All books affect us and change our perspective to some degree. Have read many self-help types as well as general fact and fiction, but the one book that has altered my life profoundly is the Bible.

Any recent embarrassing moments?
Er…too numerous to mention…let’s see..realising I hadn’t responded to the first 2 Liebster Blog nominations. And, I hate to say it, but I used to think that LOL meant ‘Lots of Love’ until I was corrected.

What does a typical Saturday look like for you?
Not so very different from any other day really. Our 2 sons are both married and we have a pretty constrained lifestyle due to my chronic sickness and my husband’s mental health problem. It is a day when sport/football captures most of his attention. We chill out as much as possible, maybe get a takeaway and watch a movie on Sky Premier. Time to relax mostly.

Favourite place to be, outside the house?
A coffee shop. Anywhere with friends or family. Or sitting by a river, near the sea, watching life go by. Love wildlife and people watching – actually not too dissimilar.

How do you choose what to write about?
Usually the topics largely choose themselves. I always pray for guidance, inspiration and the wisdom to know what to write. Keeping a notepad handy makes it easy to jot down random ideas/thoughts as they occur – even if I have to get out of bed sometimes – one never knows when inspiration will strike! I’ve found it really useful and challenging to be part of the God-sized dream this year, (as well as joining in with #FiveMinuteFriday and #concretewords) and write on set topics.

Who inspires you?
Well, apart from the Holy Spirit, I would say almost anybody and anything. Could be from reading a book, blog post, tweet, message, listening to music etc. Try to remain open to any whispers of wisdom and insight that might cross my path.

What sort of music comes out of your speakers?
Mostly my Other Half’s choice which is pretty eclectic, including: Dragonforce, System of a Down, Third Day, Kutless, Newsboys. I enjoy some of these as well as Bob Dylan, Queen, Leonard Cohen, Phil Wickham and Casting Crowns among others.

How do you feel about roller-coasters?
Best avoided or tackled on an empty stomach.

Socks. Sensible or robots?
Have a mix. Silly and sensible. A bit like me.

Here is my list of nominees

PS: I have no idea how many followers you actually have – no offence intended!

1) Lucy Mills – on faith, writing and life – one of my first blogging friends and a fellow M.E sufferer. I love her quirky and individual slant on life. Deep topics discussed with thought-provoking lightness of touch.

3) Joan Hall – writes about life, love and faith – a lovely encourager who is refreshingly open about the writing process and enthusiastic about sharing her experiences to help others.

4) James Prescott – discovering hope in the messiness of life – one of the most encouraging and supportive people I know, even as he battles his own problems. A great friend, social media guru and gifted writer.

6) Dorothy.M. Stewart – about writing, life and God – a seasoned author (and preacher) who has the ability to write with empathy on hard times, sensitivity on delicate matters and with humorous simple enjoyment of life in general. Also a great encourager and supporter of other writers.

7) Helen Murray – because I’m just a child on a long journey – approaches life and faith with an open, inquiring mind and heart. I love her ability to invade the mind of biblical characters in her writing – just sublime.

8) Chris Morris – living a life of hope – a really inspiring person as a bold and determined seeker of answers to life’s hard questions about sickness, pain and faith.

9) Debby Bolton – living better with an invisible illness – a greatinspiration in how she endeavours to encourage others to live well with chronic illness, with her creativity spanning art, journalling and keeping the home clean.

10) Kelli Woodford – chronicles of grace – a relatively new find for me on the blogosphere. Kelli writes transcendently about life, love and grace in the midst of bringing up her family. I love her expressive, grace-filled prose.

Here are your questions (courtesy of Amanda – tweaked a bit by me)

1) What’s your favourite food/drink/eating establishment?

2) If you watch television, what type of programme do you like best? Do you have a specific show or series you never miss?

3) What are the essential components of the writing process for you?

4) If you had to participate in something outside your comfort zone, what would it be?

5) What skill or trade would you like to learn or wish you had?

6) Pick a person, living or dead, you feel your ideals most clearly align with.

7) Pick a genre you don’t normally write in, but would like to, and say why you chose that one.

8) What motivates you? What is your passion? What gets you out of bed in the morning?

9) Aside from writing/blogging/social media/promoting, what else do you like to spend your time on?

10) If you could be anything, what would it be? (Let’s see how creative you REALLY are!)

11) What human characteristic or trait do you admire most?

PS:You can add a different Liebster Award badge/button to your blog than the one I’ve chosen here. There are quite a few available.

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Hi Tanya. Lovely to hear from you too! You have inspired me greatly on my blogging journey and I should probably have added you to the list of nominees. It was quite hard leaving people off! Your own list of best bloggers has been really useful and informative. I'm still in the process of checking them out. Bless you, my friend! 🙂 xx

Hello Regine. Great to meet you. Thanks very much for your lovely comment. You could try reading my 'One Day' post as it highlights a typical day in my life and has a hyperlink to a web site about M.E. It stands for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and it affects the neurological system, muscles and joints with many symptoms – predominantly profound fatigue, pain, sleep disorder, hypersensitivity to light etc. Hope that helps! Bless you for your interest :)x

Thanks very much, Jedidja. I can assure you that I am definitely a real person! As you've been reading my blog for a while you will know quite a bit about how life affects me. I appreciate the compliment! Bless you, my friend. 🙂 xx

Hi Kelli. So pleased you can relate to one of my loves! I have stated how mixed my family was. What I didn't mention is that the half and step siblings were so much older than my sister and I that we virtually grew up alone. Though we did have a lot of interaction with them as children. Lovely to hear you are blessed with a large family. Happy to recommend you any day! Blessings 🙂 xx

Just found a liitle time to visit with you! What a Joy you are! And what a great idea this type of blogging is! Very interesting!

It's great learning "your deep personal secrets" hidden beneath a deep layer! 🙂I love Leonard Cohen as well and I too am afraid of high places.

I am still embarassed to say I thought the same as you on LOL. Still do! 🙁 Will you enlighten me before I put my foot into my mouth?

We are also on the same wavelength on ispiration. If I have to think what to write, nothing happens. Dry as a desert. Early morning, after I wake up, I write what ever I am gifted with and it is beautiful, or rather it is what I need to write. So I too believe that the Spirit of the Universe whispers in my heart and guides my hand.

Wishing you strength, wisdom, and patience to deal with your hurdles! What would we be if we did not have such challenges that sculpt us into better and stronger human beings?

Oh, Katina, you have blessed me once more with your visit and lovely comment. So pleased that finding out my deep dark secrets hasn't deterred you and even more pleased we share a love of Leonard Cohen! Now to enlighten you (though I expect someone already has)..LOL stands for Laugh Out Loud. I have the same problem as you if I try to strain to write. I've discovered it's better by far to seek God's guidance and be continually open to the whispered words of wisdom that come my way. Then I hurry to scribble them down before they disappear from memory. Though they usually require honing and polishing a bit, as well as leaving aside for a while, before I am ready to publish. Blessings of wisdom, strength and grace to you too as you deal with your own challenges, my friend. 🙂 xx

let’s connect

Hi, I'm Joy. Welcome to my blog. I write about my journey of life and faith with the goal of helping others toward greater freedom in knowing who they are in Christ.
And to reveal, as I share words of joy and encouragement, how beauty can spring forth from brokenness and hope shines bright even in dark circumstances.